Knitting needles



Filed June 16, 1959 RYOZO MASUJIMA KNITTING NEEDLES 2 Sheets-Sh 1 Aug. 28, 1962 RYOZOJVIASUJIMA 3,050,968

KNITTING NEEDLES Filed June 16, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

B @4014, 6% EM 3,050,968 KNETTHJG NEEDLE Ryozo lviasujima, l Gaza Shiota Machi, Chiisagata-gun, Nagano-lren, .lapau Filed .llune 16, 1959, her. No. 82tl,719 9 Claims. (til. 66-121) This invention relates to improvements in knitting needles. More particularly, this invention in concerned with automatically replaceable structures of the latch carried swingably by the stem of the needle, and adjuncts thereof.

Spring-loaded latches for knitting needles are known. However, it has been necessary to provide a very special latch to associate a spring with the latch or to provide considerably complicated fittings to fix the spring to the stem. in addition, the provision of an automatic latch-replacing means brings such troubles as a poor feed or snap of yarn. Furthermore, since a slot provided in the stem is less than 1.0 mm. in width, it is extremely difficult to mount a complicated mechanism inside such a narrow slot. Accordingly, it becomes possible to mount such a mechanism only in a specially large needle and it is not only inconvenient and uneconomical but also apt to bring troubles to apply such a mechanism to knitting needles in general. Moreover, the special mechanism has been an obstacle to development of the commercial production of specially constructed knitting needles. Because of such drawbacks as set forth hereinbefore, no knitting needle having an automatic replaceable latch as above has been used practically.

The object of this invention is to provide a knitting needle of the class described avoiding the above drawbacks so as to be practical and effectively economical.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of this invention, there is provided a knitting needle comprising a stem having a longitudinal slot having two bases, a latch swingably mounted on a pivot provided within the slot, and a spring placed on the two bases so as to act on the latch.

The invention will be better understood and other objects and additional advantages of the invention will become apparent upon perusal of the following description taken in connection with the drawings illustrating several embodiments of this invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a knitting needle;

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view, partly in section and on an enlarged scale, of an essential part thereof;

FIGS. 4-9 are views similar to FIG. 3 but showing modified embodiments within the scope of this invention; and

FiGS. l(l-l2 are views similar to FIG. 3 showing the method of mounting a spring on a stem of the knitting needle.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

:Referring more particularly to the drawings, the preferred embodiments of this invention will now be described; however, this description will be understood to be illustrative of the invention and not as limiting it to the particular constructions shown and described. Tin-oughout these embodiments, one of the characteristics of this invention consists in arranging a latch and a spring on the stem of the knitting needle so as to locate the latch within a range where the spring acts on the latch in order to position the latter automatically.

There is a stem 1 of a knitting needle as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A slot 3 is formed in the stem 1 so as to hold a latch within the slot 3, this latch 2 being mounted swingably on a pivot 4 as shown in FIG. 3. The slot 3 has a Patented Aug. 28, 1962 ice front base 5 and a rear base 5 formed integrally with the stem 1. Either of the two bases 5 or 5 may have a socket, but as shown, the base 5 is provided with a socket n.

A concavo-convex spring 7 is placed between the latch 2 and the two bases 5 and 5', throwing a bridge between the two bases. The spring 7 has a bent. end 8 which is adapted to be inserted into the socket 6 so as to fix the spring 7 in place. The spring 7 may have a round or a square section or may be a leaf. Spring 7 is initially curved longitudinally thereof and, in the operative position in the stem of the needle, has its initially convex surface engaging the pivot end of the latch. The arrangement of the parts is such that the pivoted end of the latch 2 maintains the spring '7 resiliently deformed into the slot 3 to an extent such that the initially convex surface of the spring '7 is always maintained concave toward the pivot end of the latch.

The latch 2 has a cam portion 11 arranged on its lower side extending outwardly from the pivot 4 and is arranged to cooperate with a hook 9 formed conventionally at the front end of the stem 1. The cam portion 11 is adapted to depress the spring 7 when the latch 2 is engaged with the hook 9, and latch 2 is stabilized when the cam portion 11 recedes from the spring 7 by the reaction thereof. it is preferred to form the periphery of the latch 2 so as to include a circular surface 12 concentric with the pivot 4 and a flat or straight surface 13 connecting surface 12 with cam portion 11. Surface 12 is so disposed that it is in engagement with the spring 7 when the latch 2 is swung clockwise from the position shown in full lines in FIG. 3.

Normally a latch 2 does not occupy the position closing the hook h, so as to hook a yarn easily. However, when a yarn positioned on the stem 1 is displaced towards the book 9, the latch 2 is pushed by the yarn from the position indicated as L in FIG. 3 towards the hook 9. When the tip of the latch 2 approaches the hook 9 or just contacts therewith, the spring 7 is pushed and bent by the cam portion 11 of the latch 2 so as to push it back at a contacting point 14. Therefore, when the yarn has passed the latch 2, the latter is biased to the L position immediately and stabilized there. it is to be noted that the yarn is not caught by the hook 9 but left free ahead of the hook 9.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the latch 2 has a longer straight surface between the circular surface 12 and in the cam 11 than the preceding embodiment and thus is biased equally by spring 7 at any position wherein the tip of the latch 2 is in the proximity of the hook 9.

Referring now to 'FIGS. 5 to 8, inclusive, the arrangement of the spring 7 is modified variously. In FIG. 5, the space between the two bases 5 and 5" of the slot 3, neither of which has a socket 6 but both of which have uninterrupter surfaces 15, is bridged by the spring 7. In FIG. 6, there is a step 16 in the base 5', whereby the spring 7 is fixed in place. In FIG. 7, there are two steps 17 and 16 in the two bases 5 and 5', respectively, whereby the spring 7 is fixed in place. In FIG. 8, an end of the spring 7 has one end secured in one of the bases 5 and 5' and the other end is extended along the surface of the other of the bases 5 and 5 so as to bridge between the bases 5 and 5.

Referring now to FIG. 9, still anodier embodiment is shown in which latch 2 has two straight surfaces 13 and 18, one on each side of the circular surface 12, whereby the latch 2 may be stabilized in two positions L and M. In the L position, the straight pant 13 of the latch 2 engages spring 7 while the tip of the latch Z is inclined towards the book 9. In the M position, the straight part 18 of the latch 2 engages spring 7 while the tip of the latch 2 is inclined away from hook 9.

Referring now to FIGS. 10 to 12, inclusive, a method of fixing spring 7 in place is illustrated. Spring '7 has a relatively elongated and curved body, the end 8 being bent perpendicularly to the body and extending toward the inside of the curve. The other end of spring 7 is inserted between the latch 2 and the two bases 5 and 5' of the slot 3 as shown in FlG. 10. Thus, in FIG. 11, the space between the two bases 5 and 5' is bridged by the spring '7 so as to position bent end 8 over the socket 6 provided in the base 5 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 9. Then the spring 7 is turned upside down through 180 so as to engage the bent end 8 in the socket 6, as shown, for convenience, in FIG. 12 in which the bent end 8 is shown as if held by a certain means. Thus the furnished spring 7 is made further effective by being bent oppositely to the original curve.

Furthermore, it is possible to provide an appreciably long material for the spring 7, having an end 8 bent at the right angle to the body. After the body of the material is inserted between the bases 5 and 5' and the latch 2 and turned upside down as above, a suitable length of the body is cut oft for the unit and the bent end h thereof is engaged with the socket s as shown in PEG. 3, while the remainder of the body is used for another unit and a bent end it is again formed in the remainder.

in accordance with this invention, it is not necessary to provide a special means outside the knitting needle in order to replace the latch automatically. The object of this invention is attained by means of the spring 7 which is very simple but reliable. Accordingly, it becomes possible to avoid the complication and trouble inherent in the special means of prior art, to simplify a knitting machine, to make a knitting operation more speedy, steadier, and easier, and to obtain a better finished fabric.

Spring 7 is retained against displacement by virtue of the walls of groove 3, its engagement with the bases 5 and 5, and engagement with the pivot end of latch 22. By virtue of the fact that spring 7 is disposed along the bottom of the slot 3, there is no chance of the spring interfering with the yarn feeding or casting off which might occur when using special latch operating means known to the prior art.

In accordance with this invention, it is possible to stabilize the latch in such required positions as the front position, required for the yarn feed, and the rear position resulting from a knitting yarn loop, whereby the action of the latch, and accordingly of the knitting machine, is made more accurate and, at the same time, lighter and smoother.

It may be seen that it is very easy to adapt the knit-ting needle in accordance with this invention to conventional knitting machines for domestic use and for industrial use. It may also be seen that the knitting needle in accordance with this invention may be mass produced to obtain an inexpensive, economical and durable product.

While particular embodiments of this invention have been illustrated and described, modifications thereof will readily occur to those skilled in the art. It should be understood therefore that the invention is not limited to the particular arrangements disclosed but that the appended claims are intended to cover all modifications which do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A method of mounting a spring on a knitting needle of the type having a longitudinal slot formed in the stem thereof, said slot having a front and rear base formed integrally with said stem, and a latch pivoted swingably to and fro on a pivot provided within said slot, comprising the steps of bending one end of a longitudinally curved spring in the direction of its concave surface, inserting the other end of said spring between said two bases and said latch with the concave surface facing the latch, inverting said spring to engage its convex surface with the latch, and engaging said bent end in a socket formed in one of said two bases.

2. A latch type knitting needle having a stem and a hook at one end of the stem, the stem being fomred with a longitudinal groove adjacent the hook end, and the bottom of the groove having a longitudinal slot therethrough of less length than the length of the groove to form a pair of bases spaced longitudinally by said slot; a latch pivoted at one end in said groove for cooperation with said hook; and a relatively elongated initially longitudinally curved substantially flat spring longitudinally bridging said slot and with its ends seated on said bases; the pivoted end of said latch being curved and engaging the initially convex surface of said spring and, in all positions of said latch,

maintaining said spring resiliently deformed into said slot to an extent that such initially convex surface is concave; said pivoted end of said latch having at least one flat engageable by said spring to bias said latch to a pre-set position relative to said hook.

3. A latch type knitting needle, as claimed in claim 2, in which said pivoted end of said latch is formed with a cam portion eccentric to said pivot and engageable with said spring to bias said latch to an open position in which it extends toward said hook but is spaced therefrom.

4. A latch type knitting needle, as claimed in claim 2, in which the pivoted end of said latch has a portion of its periphery which is circular and concentric with said pivot, and which connects at one end with another peripheral portion which comprises said flat; whereby said latch is stabilized in a position in which said fiat is in engagement with said spring.

5. A latch type knitting needle, as claimed in claim 4, including a second flat peripheral portion extending from the opposite end of said circular portion; whereby said latch is stabilized in either of two positions in each of which one of said flat peripheral portions is in engagement with the spring.

6. A latch type knitting needle, as claimed in claim 2, in which said spring has one end bent at right angles to the body of the spring in the direction of its initially concave surface; said one end being engaged in a notch formed in one of said bases.

7. A latch type knitting needle, as claimed in claim 2, wherein one of said bases is formed with a stepped portion positioning an end of said spring.

8. A latch type knitting needle, as claimed in claim 7, wherein both of said bases are formed with stepped surfaces receiving ends of said spring.

9. A latch type knitting needle, as claimed in claim 2, wherein one of said bases is formed with a longitudinally extending recess in which is inserted one end of said spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,252,302 Morith Aug. 12, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 424 Australia June 15, 1899 

